The World Cup in 2010 was held in South Africa and the winners Spain beat runners up Netherlands in Soccer City, Johannesburg.

That same summer Liverpool brought in nine new players to the club, sold eight, and released three on free transfers.

The Reds, then under the management of Roy Hodgson, who took over on July 1st 2010 officially from Rafael Benitez, signed Jonjo Shelvey for £1.7 million from Charlton in May 2010. The England youngster did not make a senior appearance for the Three Lions, however, until 2012 so the World Cup had very little to do with his signing.

Milan Jovanovic and Joe Cole, were both signed on free transfers in July – the former has never made a senior appearance for Brazil but Joe Cole appeared twice as a substitute for England in South Africa that tournament.

Scotland youngster Danny Wilson, however, was not involved before he signed from Rangers for £2 million also in July 2010. Christian Poulson signed later that summer on August 12th for £4.5 million from Juventus and was at the World Cup with Denmark, playing in all three of their group games before the Danes exited the competition in the first round.

Brad Jones signed on August 17th following the World Cup – he had been selected for Australia but returned home soon into the tournament for personal reasons related to his son’s health but had previously earned four caps for Australia at senior level.

Raul Meireles signed on August 29th after quite a spotlight shone on him with Portugal, starting all of their matches and scoring one goal against North Korea before exiting to the eventual winners Spain in the group stages. His performance at the World Cup may likely have inspired the Reds’ move to sign him for £11.5 million from Porto that summer.

Liverpool later brought in Paul Konchesky for £3 million from Fulham on August 31st but the former England international had not been included in the senior squad since 2005.

From that work done in 2010 by Hodgson, (although Brendan Rodgers is now in charge) it is possible that the Merseyside giants could bring in some players, at least one perhaps, who shines at the World Cup. In the case of Raul Meireles this appears to have been the case, especially as the deal was completed relatively late in the window that summer.

In the cases of Joe Cole and Milan Jovanovic their performances could have played a part in the Red’s interest but obviously the club would have been familiar with the former already from the Premier League.

Judging by the work done already by Rodgers this summer to bring in Rickie Lambert and Emre Can early on, I suspect the Northern Irishman already has his targets settled but I wouldn’t rule out perhaps one impulse purchase off the back of a convincing display at the World Cup in Brazil, especially in the case of a player such as Mathieu Valbuena, for example, who has performed well and will leave Marseille after the tournament.

However, later on in the January window of 2011, the Reds (under Kenny Dalglish by that point) signed Luis Suarez for £23 million from Ajax after he made waves with Uruguay at the World Cup the previous summer and Andy Carroll for £35 million from Newcastle who had earned his first call up to the England senior team in November 2010 after the World Cup.

Especially in the case of Suarez the World Cup in which he performed well may have inspired his move the following January so I wouldn’t rule out a similar set of circumstances in January 2015 next term.

Jenny Leigh

Jennifer is a freelance writer and filmmaker from London with a great passion for football - the game, the business, and the culture. Jennifer hopes to provide readership with a high standard of news, analysis, and opinion over a range of football events, stories, and issues.